It was a beautiful, warm sunny day in the Colorado Rockies today -
a bit unusual for the middle of November, but not unheard of. It's
supposed to snow on Monday after rain arrives tomorrow, so today
was a day to get out and enjoy.
Zima must have heard the weather forecast, because at 8:00 a.m.
sharp she bounded into the house and bedroom, waking us up from
a sound sleep with her usual friendly morning smile and a few
of the English words she can pronounce " a walk ". So we were off
for a good 4-hour excursion.
She was in rare form today, as she often is on beautiful sunny days.
As we were walking out of town, we passed a neighbor that Zima knows.
Zima knows that the request to "say hello to Don (any name here)"
means to go over to that person, smile and wait to be petted, but
this morning, she surprised me. As I said "Zima, say hello to ..",
Zima looked at Don from a distance and quite clearly finished the
sentence with the word "Don". Then she came over and did her thing
and got her head petted.
After we got into the mountains, we came across a stray dog
whom other hikers said had been following them. I guess because
Zima was with me, the dog, who had big reddish brown and white spotted
fur - it was a cocker spaniel (or English), decided it had a better
chance of finding it's way home by following us. She was hurt and
had obviously been lost for several hours at least from the grime
and burrs she had accumulated. She was looking high and low for
her people, and appeared to be frightened but happy to have found
a friend who might help in Zima.
A little ways further, the three of us met a couple, the gentleman of
which asked about the spaniel. They had adopted several strays over
the years, and fortunately, he had his cell phone. After several
attempts (cell phones don't always work in the Colorado Rockies)
he was able to contact the Vet Hospital number listed on the dog's
rabies tag (the name tag was missing). The hospital told us the
dog's name was "Muddy", which given the spotted nature of the fur
seemed quite appropriate. The couple asked for a leash from another
passing hiker, and headed back with "Muddy" in tow. When they got
home they would call Muddies guardians, and the great adventure
would end for Muddy with the reunion with her family. I have never
really appreciated cell phones as much as I did this afternoon - what
a godsend in that situation. Zima missed her new-found friend, but
appeared to appreciate the situation. She stay much closer the
rest of the way home - except

As we were beginning to return to town, Zima spotted a rabbit disappear
into a pile of rocks. Zima nearly always chases rabbits but when they
go into the rocks or their hole, they have the advantage. Since,
it was so nice today, however, Zima was in no hurry to leave that pile
of rocks for she knew the rabbit was in there somewhere, and rabbits
are some of coyote's favorite food around here. So after scratching,
digging and whining in the rocks (of course I usually join Zima
in the scratching, digging and whining part) for the better part of
an hour with no sign of rabbit, I started off, figuring that was
one rabbit who had another day to live. But Zima was not following,
so I sat down on a rock and waited. About 5 minutes later, Zima
walks up and drops a dead rabbit at my feet, looks up at me and
smiles from ear to ear. She knows the word rabbit, but is not
able to pronounce it. Thanksgiving came early for Zima this year.
She devoured the rabbit from head to foot leaving only the tail,
over the next 15 minutes. Nature is good to those with persistence.

Moral: Persistence pays off